The number 7 (七, Pinyin: qī (Mandarin) “chut” (Cantonese) symbolizes “togetherness”. It is a lucky number for relationships. It is also recognized as the luckiest number in the West, and is one of the rare numbers that is great in both Chinese and many Western cultures. It is a lucky number in Chinese culture, because it sounds alike to the Chinese word 起 (Pinyin: qǐ) in Mandarin meaning arise, and also 气 (Pinyin: qì) meaning life essence.

There are Seven days in the week

There are seven colors in the rainbow. A beautiful huge rainbow followed six days of freezing temperatures, snow and icy rain

There are seven wonders of the world.

7-11 is where one of my favorite brothers-in-law works.

I grew up being a huge fan of 7-up artwork by Peter Max, who I ALMOST met in Florida this past fall.

There are seven fundamental types of catastrophes. Two of my favorites are:

1. The butterfly effect is the concept that small causes can have large effects.

2. A snowball effect is a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger (graver, more serious), and also perhaps potentially dangerous or disastrous (a vicious circle, a “spiral of decline”), though it might be beneficial instead (a virtuous circle). The common analogy is with the rolling of a snowball down a snow-covered hillside. As it rolls the ball will pick up more snow, gaining more mass and surface area, and picking up even more snow and momentum as it rolls along.

Both of these a strong reminders of the ripples that are the result of my surgery. I am a lucky woman.

If you are a number nerd like me, here’s a lot more stuff on 7s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_(number)